Keep an open mind

I like to keep an open mind when I go shopping and I’m hunting for a specific outfit or accessory. Sometimes the places that I overlook in my mind are the very places that have come up with the goods on what I’ve been looking for.

I have been slowly building my wardrobe up because I am FINALLY back to my pre-baby weight when I had Magdalene, but I have another 10kg to lose to get back to the weight I was before I had Esther.

Of course those 10kg are making it hard to get into some of the items in my wardrobe, hence the shopping to get items that will fit.

Anyway back to keeping an open mind, I have been hunting dresses that are easy to accessorise and will fit in with my busy lifestyle as a mum.

At one of my local shopping centres a pop-up store called Collective Avenue has made it’s residence in an empty shop for a couple of months. Most of the items that are sold at Collective Avenue are hand-made by stay-at-home mums and it is an amazing shop to browse through, although every time I’ve browsed there I have always bought something.

They have a few racks of clothes that I zone into every time I walk into the store. On one such occasion I saw a navy blue chevron print shift dress. I immediately knew it had to be part of my wardrobe so I tried it on and looked at the price tag of $39.95 and thought BARGAIN.

It wasn’t until I walked to the counter to pay for my dress that the lovely owner at the cash register said ‘Oh, aren’t you lucky to be buying yourself a lovely nightie’.

A nightie?

I admitted to her that I didn’t realize it was a nightie and I had every intention of wearing it as a dress.

The owner promptly told me I had been browsing the sleep wear rack and that the dress was supposed to be worn as a nightie but who would know since most sleepwear these days were designed for daywear?

My chevron print dress that is actually a nightie

Here is the dress in question and maybe you can judge for yourself. But my key message when shopping to a budget is to keep an open mind. I love this dress and I guess the bonus is if I no longer want to wear it as a day dress, I can sleep in it as a nightie.

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I blog on Tuesdays.